Transcript Document

Update on the American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act of 2009
(ARRA)
Presented to the
Senate Finance Education Subcommittee
Kent C. Dickey
Assistant Superintendent for Finance
1
October 16, 2009
ARRA Overview
 The federal stimulus law – the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)
– was enacted on February 17, 2009.
 Significant amounts of formula funding for
public education under the law have been
awarded to Virginia and allocated to school
divisions since last spring.
 Competitive grants – with extensive
requirements – focusing on education reforms
will become open for application over the next
several months.
2
October 16, 2009
ARRA Overview
 In addition to the goals of creating jobs and
transparency/accountability, ARRA contains
four core educational reform areas:
 rigorous college- and career-ready standards and high
quality assessments;
 longitudinal student and teacher data systems that
meet federal requirements;
 improving teacher quality and equitable distribution of
effective teachers across schools; and
 providing intensive support and interventions for lowperforming schools.
3
October 16, 2009
ARRA Overview
 ARRA includes both formula and
competitive grants for K-12 education.
 The largest formula grants are:
 State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF) – K-12
& higher ed.;
 Title I, Part A; and
 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act,
Part B (IDEA).
4
October 16, 2009
ARRA Overview
 ARRA funds available for obligation by
divisions/higher ed. through Sept. 30, 2011.
 ARRA funds are strictly federal funds, each
grant accounted for separately, and funds paid
on a reimbursement basis only.
 Include extensive reporting requirements
(ARRA Section 1512).
 Limited funding for state-level administration.
5
October 16, 2009
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
“Stimulus Funds”
State Fiscal Stabilization
Fund (SFSF)
Formula Grants
Uses are consistent with
the existing federal
programs in these areas
One-Time Allocations
U.S. Sec. of
Education’s
Portion of
SFSF –
Competitive
 Title I, Part A
New, limited
duration program
under ARRA
Governor’s
Portion of
SFSF –
Formula
($1.2 billion for
Va.)
 IDEA (school age and preschool)
 School Improvement
 Educational Technology Grant
 Homeless Grant
 Equipment Assistance for School
Nutrition Programs
Competitive
Grants
 Race to the
Top (st. &
LEAs)
 Innovation
Grants
(LEAs)
81.8%
18.2%
($983.9 million for VA)
($218.9 million for
VA)
 Distributed
between K-12 and
Higher Education
to cover state
budget shortfalls
 Used to
sustain gov’t.
services, incl.
education
 Based on state
funding formulas
6
October 16, 2009
ARRA Formula Funding
 ARRA formula grants that have been awarded to
Virginia by US DOE include:
 State Fiscal Stabilization Fund ($1.2B - total for Ed. & Gov’t.
Services Funds - have received 67% or $805.9 million);
 Title I, Part A ($164.5M);
 Title I School Improvement ($50.6M - pending);
 IDEA, Part B State Grants ($281.4M);
 IDEA, Part B Preschool Grants ($9.5M);
 Educational Technology ($10.8M - 50% formula, 50%
competitive);
 Education for Homeless ($1.1M); and
 Equipment Assistance for School Nutrition Programs ($1.9M
- from USDA).
7
October 16, 2009
ARRA Formula Funding: SFSF
 State Fiscal Stabilization (SFSF) Education funds used to restore
K-12 and higher ed. funding in FY09, FY10, & FY11 to the greater of
the FY08 or FY09 level.
 Va’s. approved funding allocation between K-12 & higher ed. is
based on the restoration amounts included in the approved
application.
 2009 General Assembly allocated $365.2M of the K-12 portion to
divisions for FY10 based on the proportion of targeted state
funding reductions to divisions in FY10; higher ed. FY10 allocation
is $126M.
 VDOE administering all of the SFSF funding: K-12, higher ed., and
Government Services.
8
October 16, 2009
ARRA Formula Funding: SFSF

To receive SFSF Phase I funds (first 67%), the Governor and
state superintendent signed application assurances that the
state is making/will make progress in the four core reform areas.

States must submit an application to receive remaining funding
(Phase II) which will require extensive reporting and follow-up
efforts to document progress on the four core reform
assurances. Application requirements and timelines are being
finalized.

For example, details on teacher and principal performance
evaluation systems, individual teacher impact on student
achievement, and capacity of longitudinal data systems to
match teachers to students and integrate with higher education
data systems must be reported and progress tracked.

Governor and state superintendent provided public comment on
proposed application and reporting process.
9
October 16, 2009
ARRA Formula Funding: SFSF MOE
 SFSF requires Maintenance of Effort of state
funding for K-12 and higher ed. at FY06 levels.
 State funding for higher ed. does not meet FY06
MOE when reductions in September Reduction
Plan considered.
 Governor intending to file MOE waiver with US
DOE to maintain SFSF funding eligibility.
10
October 16, 2009
ARRA Competitive Grants
 Competitive grants from Secretary of Education’s portion
of SFSF:
 Race to the Top – $4.35B national competition for grants to states
making most progress toward the four reform assurances and
effectively using other ARRA funds; 50% of funds distributed to
LEAs; and
 Innovation Grants – $650M in competitive grants to LEAs/nonprofits to start or expand research-based programs to serve as best
practices towards closing the achievement gap and improving
student achievement; requires match.
 Other Competitive Grants:
 Teacher Incentive Fund – develop compensation incentive models
($200M); and
 Statewide Data Systems – support for development of longitudinal
data systems ($250M).
 Application requirements and timelines will be
announced over the next few months.
11
October 16, 2009
ARRA Comp. Grants: Race to the Top
 $4.35B in competitive grants to states.
 Incentives for comprehensive reform strategies
across the four core areas.
 50% or more of funds must be subgrants to
LEAs based on relative shares of funding under
Title I.
 Governor must apply – like SFSF Phase II,
application will involve extensive
reporting/tracking related to core areas.
12
12
October 16, 2009
ARRA Comp. Grants: Race to the Top
 Grants available in two phases:
 Phase 1 - open for applications late 2009, awards
made early 2010; and
 Phase 2 - for states that need more time, open for
applications late spring 2010, awards made Sept.
2010.
 US DOE to announce final application
requirements and timelines with the next
month or so.
13
13
October 16, 2009
ARRA Comp. Grants: Race to the Top
 Five proposed priority areas for selection:
1. Comprehensive approach to the four ARRA reform
areas (absolute);
2. Emphasis on Science, Technology, Engineering and
Mathematics (competitive preference);
3. Expansion and Adaptation of Statewide Longitudinal
Data Systems (invitational priority);
4. P-20 Coordination and Vertical Alignment (invitational
priority); and
5. School-level Conditions for Reform and Innovation
(invitational priority).
14
14
October 16, 2009
ARRA Comp. Grants: Race to the Top
 Similar to SFSF Phase II, application will include
numerous selection criteria tied to the 5 priority areas
such as:
 Participation in development/adoption of common K-12
standards and assessments;
 Statewide longitudinal data system that includes the 12
elements in the America COMPETES Act;
 Differentiating teacher/principal effectiveness based on
performance (student growth);
 Ensuring equitable distribution of effective teachers and
principals;
 State authority to intervene directly in lowest-performing
schools and ability to turn around struggling schools; and
 Increasing the supply of high-quality charter schools.
15
15
October 16, 2009
ARRA Construction Funding
 Bond funding for school renovation and construction
through two tax-credit bond programs:
 continuation of the Qualified Zone Academy Bond (QZAB)
program (renovation only) - $7.4M in 2008 & $26.0M in 2009 for
bond allocation awards to eligible Va. divisions;
 new bond program: Qualified School Construction Bonds
(QSCBs) (new construction or renovation) - $191.1M in 2009 &
2010 for Va.
- for 2009, $71.6M for Literary Fund waiting list projects and
$119M for competitive energy efficiency projects; VPSA
will be conduit issuer; and
 purchasers of QZABs/QSCBs receive federal income tax credit
in lieu of interest payments. Issuers pay principle with zero or
near zero interest.
16
16
October 16, 2009
ARRA Construction Funding
 Impact Aid School Construction
Program:
eligible Va. divisions applying for 60%
competitive portion of funding ($60 million
available nationally).
17
17
October 16, 2009
ARRA Reporting
 Reporting requirements in ARRA Section 1512 and
OMB/US DOE procedures. Reporting is quarterly and is
cumulative through the two years of funding. VDOE
reports data on behalf of subrecipients (i.e., divisions &
higher ed. institutions).
 Reports are submitted over FederalReporting.gov and are
due 10 days after close of each quarter. For the first
quarterly report (quarter ended 9/30/09), VDOE prepared
reports for 8 ARRA awards, both state-level and divisionlevel information.
 Key data reported are division grant award amounts,
division expenditures reimbursed, division payments to
vendors of $25,000 or greater, infrastructure information,
and jobs retained/created.
18
October 16, 2009
ARRA Reporting
 Jobs data is collected from divisions based on federal
reporting guidelines:
 job counts based on FTE hours worked divided by the number of
hours in a full-time schedule;
 full-time schedule starting point is 2/17/2009, date of enactment;
and,
 an aggregate jobs count for the state is reported (1st quarter total
jobs saved/created reported was 3,016 – some division job data
outstanding).
 First quarter division expenditures reported were $1.9M
(as of 9/30, reflects little teacher pay activity). As of 10/14,
division expenditures has significantly increased to $15
million.
 States allowed to revise/correct 1st quarter data until late
Oct. Final 1st quarter report data available to public on
FederalReporting.gov by 10/30/09.
19
October 16, 2009